Where is my hope and change?

I am one of the millions who did not buy in to Obamania. Despite the media relentlessly and unapologetically campaigning for him and against the GOP, I saw him as too far left, too inexperienced and an altogether mediocre candidate. He gives a good speech but his résumé is razor-thin for the top job.

Now, two months into his presidency, let’s take an honest look at his accomplishments or lack thereof. I know it is early in his term but this is the Messiah we are talking about. He made lots of big promises and the American people expect results. The honeymoon is over and we can only blame things on Bush for so long.

President Obama promised complete transparency in government. Presumably, this meant that we citizens would be informed about the laws he was passing and that we would have to live under. So among the first bills he signs into law is a gigantic 1,100-page, $787 billion pork sandwich that was introduced at midnight the day before the house voted on it. Nobody has read it because they couldn’t possibly have had the time. Is this the transparency we were promised or an attempt to sneak the biggest pork bill in history past congress?

President Obama says that the “spendulus” package does not have any pork or earmarks in it. I have seen a summary of the bill, and it is nothing but pork and earmarks. It looks like a giant lotto payoff to all the left-wing programs that have been denied federal funds for the past eight years. There is money for unions, global warming hoax researchers, arts, abortion clinics, stem cell research, STD research, green energy (whatever that is), neighborhood stabilization (ACORN) and Harry Reid’s high-speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Some of the infrastructure projects are worthwhile, but most of them should be funded by the states that own them. There is no reason for the federal government to borrow these billions that future generations will have to pay back with interest.

During the campaign, I remember a promise about how “I will run the most ethical administration in the history of Washington, D.C.” With that in mind, how is it possible that four high-level cabinet nominees (Geithner, Daschle, Solis and Killefer) have been revealed as tax cheats, and Bill Richardson withdrew his name from nomination as commerce secretary when it was revealed that he is about to be indicted for corruption? Another nominee, Judd Gregg, withdrew his name, citing irreconcilable differences with Obama, meaning he did not want the White House to “steal” the 2010 census from the Department of Commerce and use it to redraw voter districts to benefit the DNC. Eric Holder barely made it through confirmation as AG and has since called all Americans racists and cowards.

What about ending the “politics of fear” as we were promised? Remember how the evil President Bush used fear of terrorists to allow eavesdropping on phone calls made to al Qaida training camps in Pakistan? Since assuming the Presidency, Obama has used the words “emergency,” “catastrophe,” “disaster,” “crisis,” and repeatedly raised the specter of a second great depression if congress does not approve the Pelosi/Reid pork stimulus bill. Besides the historical inaccuracy of comparing today’s economy to the depression, isn’t that called the politics of fear?

What happened to the end of partisanship we were promised? Not one house Republican and only three senate Republicans voted for the pork sandwich. It is the most partisan congress in history, only the Democrats have the votes to ram through whatever they want. That defines partisanship.

A lot of people think the USA is on a rocket ride to socialism, and I am one of them. When the government decides to nationalize banks, airlines, automakers and the health-care industry, does anyone think they will somehow magically privatize again? Will the government turn them around, or will it just be more of what useless bureaucracies have done with welfare, social security, Medicaid, immigration reform, education, tax reform, FEMA, etc.? More government is not the answer.

Finally, how about a little more substance and a lot less style? These are troubled times, and I want my president in the oval office, not posing for magazine covers, going to cocktail parties, schmoozing with Jay Leno, and flying Air Force One to town hall meetings as though he is still on the campaign trail. Please give your poor, overworked teleprompter a break, too. You are supposed to be the smartest man alive, so speak from the heart for once. Don’t just give us your rehashed campaign platitudes. We already know what David Axlerod and your handlers think. We want to know what you think.

I’m still waiting for my hope and change, but all I see happening is the overspending of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the failed social engineering projects of Lyndon B. Johnson, the empty rhetoric of Jimmy Carter and the scandals of Bill Clinton.

Forrest Mize is retired and runs a charter boat business part time in Ventura.